Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Director G. Walmsley Graham Acquires 50,000 Shares

Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AKRO) Director G. Walmsley Graham purchased 50,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $43.55 per share, with a total value of $2,177,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,200,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,260,000. This represents a 4.35 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

G. Walmsley Graham also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, March 25th, G. Walmsley Graham bought 91,309 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The stock was bought at an average price of $44.75 per share, with a total value of $4,086,077.75.
• On Thursday, January 30th, G. Walmsley Graham purchased 200,000 shares of Akero Therapeutics stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $48.00 per share, for a total transaction of $9,600,000.00.

Akero Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Akero Therapeutics stock opened at $42.72 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $46.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of -11.39 and a beta of -0.19. Akero Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.86 and a 12 month high of $58.40. The company has a current ratio of 17.25, a quick ratio of 17.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

Akero Therapeutics (NASDAQ:AKRO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.99) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.98) by ($0.01). Sell-side analysts forecast that Akero Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Akero Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 54.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,896,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,554,000 after buying an additional 2,782,029 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Akero Therapeutics by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,077,478 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,053,000 after purchasing an additional 201,225 shares during the period. RTW Investments LP lifted its position in Akero Therapeutics by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 6,859,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $190,840,000 after purchasing an additional 940,388 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,321,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,238,000 after purchasing an additional 513,613 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Akero Therapeutics by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,704,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,057,000 after purchasing an additional 27,830 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AKRO. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Akero Therapeutics from $42.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America raised shares of Akero Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $63.00 in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Akero Therapeutics in a research note on Sunday, March 2nd. Citigroup upped their target price on Akero Therapeutics from $65.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Akero Therapeutics from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Akero Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.29.

About Akero Therapeutics

Akero Therapeutics, Inc, together with its subsidiary, engages in the development of treatments for patients with serious metabolic diseases in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is efruxifermin (EFX), which is in Phase 3 clinical trials that protects against cellular stress and regulates the metabolism of lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins throughout the body for the treatment of biopsy-confirmed metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) patients.